New frescoes discovered in the Villa di Poppea in Oplontis

The intervention, dictated by the need to clarify aspects relating to the development of the western sector of the villa which runs along the urban stretch of via dei sepolcri and resolve critical conservation issues, also presents itself as an important opportunity to enhance the archaeological and urban context. The ongoing excavation will actually allow the creation of a connection with the neighboring Spolettificio Borbonico where, in the coming years, museum exhibition spaces, warehouses and additional services will be created. The first results of the investigations, including the completion of the excavation of the hall, are illustrated in an article in the Pompeii excavations E-journal.

“Despite the traces present and the interpretative efforts made at the time of the first excavations, the real trend of this environment and those nearby until today retained many uncertainties that the current excavation intervention will be able to clarify – explains the director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel – as well as highlighting new portions decorated with extraordinary details and colours, of which we can already admire some previews”.

Among the particularly important discoveries, an intact figure of a peahen emerged, mirroring the male specimen found on the southern portion of the same wall, and some fragments with the depiction of a stage mask attributable to a character from the Atellan Comedy, unlike others present in the environment and attributable to the Tragedy. This is Pappus, a doting old man who tries to act like a young man but who regularly ends up being ridiculed and mocked. Also of notable interest is the discovery of some fresco fragments depicting part of a golden tripod, inscribed in an oculus (circle), in the same way as the depiction in the center of another wall, where a bronze tripod is instead represented.

Thanks to the cast technique, the excavation also revealed the imprints of trees that adorned the garden, in their original positions and inserted in a precise ornamental scheme, which doubled the colonnade of the southern portico, recalling schemes documented in the Pompeian domus and on the site of Oplontis itself. It is possible that the tree species present in this environment were similar to those identified by archaeobotanical analyzes carried out in the past in adjacent environments such as the olive tree.

The excavation also led to the identification of four new rooms in addition to the 99 already known, including an apsidal room which is probably part of the thermal sector. Interesting is the discovery of a paleochannel, an ancient section of the riverbed of a seasonal stream, which flowed precisely in correspondence with the route of Via dei Sepolcri, probably formed after the eruption of 1631, which eroded part of the deposits from the eruption of 79 AD, offering a clearer understanding of the surrounding landscape.

“These first results offer new and promising research perspectives for the knowledge of the plan of the villa – adds Zuchtriegel – and for the study of the interactions between human settlement and natural environment in the long term”. At the same time as the excavation work, a restoration site is also underway for the decorative elements of two small and precious rooms, originally intended as a rest area, called cubicula, which overlook the south-western area of ​​the Villa, right near the area of ​​the other construction site. Their rich decoration is striking, consisting of stucco, frescoed walls, painted vaults and floor mosaics of extraordinary beauty, which reveals, like the other rooms of the Villa, a very high technical ability on the part of the executors of the time, and a varied palette of pigments, also consisting of Egyptian blue.

The objective of the intervention is to recover the full legibility of the painted decoration and mosaics, lost over time due to the degradation processes of the original materials and the alteration of the materials used in previous restoration interventions. The first room is decorated with 2nd style frescoes which represent fake marble and fantastic architecture and which allow the space to be illusively enlarged; above, the vaults are decorated with a coffered motif, while the lunettes represent landscapes. The mosaic flooring is only partially preserved, with black and white tiles with geometric patterns. From a narrow passage you enter a second room, apparently simpler, decorated in the 3rd style with monochrome backgrounds and floral motifs; originally there must have been a vaulted ceiling, of which few traces remain. This second environment, in which several construction phases can be recognised, some unfinished, was probably under renovation at the time of the eruption. Furthermore, there are casts of the door and window shutters which were made in plaster at the time of the discovery of the rooms, according to the technique which derives from that developed by Fiorelli and which still retain original traces in wood.

The restoration work which is coming to an end, after almost a year of work, has so far returned excellent results, bringing the frescoes and floors back to their original splendor, revealing colors and details previously not visible. The completion of the cleaning and removal of the altered materials involves a pictorial retouching operation which will restore full readability and enhancement to these beautiful decorations.